Nevada Sports Wagering Handle Slumps To $589 Million In April

Betting public continues to fare well, holding state operators below 5% for fifth consecutive month
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Chris Altruda was a sportswriter with ESPN, The Associated Press, and STATS for more than two decades before joining Better Collective in 2019. When not crunching iGaming and casino revenue figures, he is usually listening to Iron Maiden or exploring Chicago neighborhoods. His Twitter handle is @AlTruda73 and can be reached via email at [email protected]

Nevada April 2022 revenue report
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The expected downturn in sports betting handle was a sharp one in the Silver State, as the Nevada Gaming Commission reported nearly $589.4 million worth of bets for April on Thursday.

It was the first time in eight months that handle dipped below $600 million, and it marked a 31.7% decline from March’s $862.8 million, which was fueled largely by NCAA Tournament and NBA wagering. Still, the figure represented a 28.7% year-over-year rise compared to the $457.8 million in wagers placed in April 2021.

The betting public continued to fare well against the house, holding operators to a 4.3% win rate that resulted in revenue totaling slightly less than $25.4 million. April marked the fifth consecutive month the state hold was below 5%, the first time such a streak has been created in the post-PASPA era that began in 2018. Operators in Nevada have not beaten a 7% hold — considered the industry standard — since posting an 8.1% win rate last July.

Revenue was down 31.3% compared to March despite nearly no change in hold, and dropped 7.2% compared to April 2021, when the win rate was just shy of 6%. The state received more than $1.7 million in tax revenue, lifting the total to more than $9.6 million for the year. State tax receipts from sports wagering are running approximately $560,000 behind the first four months of 2021.

People still cashing winning football tickets

Though nowhere near as prevalent as March, when operators posted a net loss of close to $17.5 million on winning football tickets against less than $475,000 handle, April saw another sizable net revenue loss of more than $4.1 million, as handle ticked higher to nearly $3.4 million.

Basketball provided the bulk of operator revenue with more than $14.6 million, as the house posted a 5.9% win rate from $247.1 million wagered. The start of baseball season brought close to $187.7 million worth of wagers — a 14.6% increase compared to April 2021 — and $7.1 million in revenue. That revenue, though, was barely half the $14.1 million operators collected last year, as the baseball win rate plummeted nearly five percentage points to 3.8%.

The catch-all “other” category, which includes, golf, boxing, and mixed martial arts in Nevada, provided some relief for operators, as the 8.4% hold contributed to nearly $6.9 million in revenue from more than $82 million in bets. The public nearly got a stalemate in hockey wagering, losing just $933,000 from $62.2 million bet for a 1.5% win rate.

Mobile trends continuing to favor the betting public

Mobile sportsbook betting accounted for nearly 72% of all handle, the highest percentage of the year and the highest since 75.7% of December’s $1.01 billion. The betting public again outperformed overall numbers when it came to mobile wagering, as the win rate was just 2.5% on the $424.1 million wagered, which left operators with only $10.5 million in revenue from those bets.

The mobile win rate through the first four months of the year is a measly 2.3% from $2.3 billion in wagers — well off the overall 3.6% hold in the 28 months the Nevada Gaming Control Board has been reporting such figures. The mobile hold has yet to eclipse the 7% industry standard in that span, and has failed to climb above 4.5% for nine consecutive months.

The house had a 9% hold on retail wagers, collecting $14.8 million in revenue from $165.2 million in bets. The retail win rate at Nevada sportsbooks is 8.6% through the first four months of 2022, and the $88.7 million collected from in-person wagers has accounted for 62.2% of the nearly $142.6 million in overall revenue generated this year.

Photo: Shutterstock

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